When Ibella and Elinni reached Renn and Tierra, the crowd fell completely silent. The only sound that could be heard was the fountain splashing at the center of the gardens. Elinni"s wings continued to flutter, pushing the scent of lilies over Tierra.
"To what do we owe this pleasure?" Renn asked with a wary gaze on the two Faeries.
Ibella handed the crystal box to Renn as she said, "Anistana asked us to present her sister and her sister"s mate with this joining gift."
"What is it?" Tierra asked, trusting nothing from Anistana"s duplicitous hand.
Elinni ran her tongue along her bottom lip and gave them both a teasing smile. "For you to discover in the privacy of your bedchamber."
The Faeries gave a quick bow and vanished...leaving only a few silver sparkles in their wake.
Renn and Tierra exchanged a wordless glance. With great care and trepidation, they placed the box on the ground, fearful of disturbing its contents.
The d.a.m.n celebration and feasting lasted too long, as far as Renn was concerned. By the time he and Tierra had finished the sharing part of the ceremony, Renn"s c.o.c.k was so hard it would surely burst through his breeches.
As soon as they had finished the chocolatyl, Renn gave a roar and stood, throwing a laughing Tierra over his shoulder in the same moment. The table they had been sitting behind upturned, spilling fruits, pastries and goblets of wine across the gra.s.s.
"Enough," he bellowed to the crowd. "It is time for me to claim my mate."
Tierra, still tipsy from the elixir, giggled as she hung over her shoulder, her ringlets falling into her eyes. "Renn!" She slapped his a.s.s with the flat of her palm. "You made my dress slip off my b.r.e.a.s.t.s."
With that mental image, Renn strode even faster down the center of the aisle toward the castle with his woman.
After they pa.s.sed the cheering crowd, Liana and Aric, and Ranelle and Jalen, met the newly joined couple at the garden gates.
d.a.m.n. Renn groaned to himself. More niceties before he could f.u.c.k his wife.
He pulled the still giggling Tierra from his shoulder and gently set her on the ground. Her hair was in complete disarray and she quickly pulled up her bodice to hide her naked b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She flipped her hair out of her eyes and smiled at Renn, then turned her tipsy gaze on her friends.
Renn grinned. She looked adorable.
"Welcome to our family, sister." Aric took Tierra"s hand and pressed his lips to it. "It has taken a fine woman to win my brother"s warrior heart."
"Thank you, Aric." She smiled as her handsome brother-in-law released her hand. "This does not let you off the hook, by any means. I will be making sure you keep Liana happy."
He bowed, his expression serious. "To my dying days."
Tierra turned her gaze on the equally gorgeous Elvin man who was also now her brother-in-law through marriage. "That goes for you, too, Jalen."
"Aye." Jalen stepped forward, clasped Tierra"s hand and kissed the back, then released it with a small bow. "To see my brother-at-arms so filled with joy pleases my heart."
Tierra gave Renn a quick grin. "Don"t think I am going to make things easy on him."
"I am counting on that, denai," Renn murmured and the look in his eyes made Tierra wish they were alone.
"Heart-sister coming through." Ranelle wiggled in front of Jalen and threw her arms around Tierra"s neck. "I am so happy. So thrilled. I love you, Tierra."
Ranelle"s perfume of exotic spice and vanilla filled Tierra"s senses as she hugged her halia just as tightly. "I love you, Ranelle."
Tierra felt a caress around her shoulder and looked up to see Liana standing beside her. Tears filled Liana"s sea green eyes and her moonlit tresses were sliding around Tierra, hugging her.
With one last quick squeeze, Tierra released Ranelle and wrapped her arms around Liana. "Everything is perfect now," Tierra murmured. "We are together and with men we love."
Liana"s smile trembled as they pulled away and she wiped tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. "To think," she said, "I am a seer and yet all of this was hidden from me."
"Probably because this was one of many possible futures," Ranelle said as she laid her hand on Liana"s arm. "Together we made this future happen."
Liana nodded. "And thank the G.o.ds that Tierra made the final choice she did, or the terror that has ruled our lives since we were children would not have ended."
"Thanks to us all." Tierra wrapped her arms around her friends and hugged them both at once. "Without any one of us, including our men, our destinies would have been far different."
Smiling through her happy tears, Liana pulled away and held up her handsa"she was holding the crystal and gold box that had been gifted to Tierra and Renn from the Faerie Queen.
"Do we dare take that?" Tierra stepped back and Renn slid his hands around her waist. "It could be a curse just as soon as a blessing."
"We did not open it," Ranelle said. "But we joined our senses together, and we do not feel that its contents are harmful."
"On the contrary." Liana gave a mischievous smile as she glanced at the crystal box she still held. "I believe Anistana"s gift will give you great pleasure in the privacy of your bedchamber."
"For which we are far overdue." Renn"s c.o.c.k throbbed at the thought of burying himself in his woman. He took Tierra by the hand and started to drag her to the castle, only to find To"en blocking his way.
The large muscled man stood with his arms folded and a stern expression on his face.
Renn was ready to kill him.
To"en"s gaze moved from Renn and Tierra to Aric and Liana, and settled on Jalen and Ranelle. "As you may know, Yanea, Queen of the Seraphine Elves, bestowed a long Elvin life upon Ranelle and all of hers and Jalen"s offspring."
To"en"s eyes met Tierra"s. "As Fae, Tierra, you are destined to live an equally lengthy life."
Tierra"s stomach clenched at the thought of living far beyond her husband. No. she could not bear to live without him.
"For your valiant efforts in ridding Dair of such unspeakable evil," To"en continued as his gaze moved to Renn and then on to Aric and Liana, "The Overseers have come to a decision." He paused as his blue eyes conveyed the seriousness of his words. "You threea"Renn, Aric, and Lianaa"have been granted equally long lives."
Before any one of his stunned audience had the opportunity to reply, To"en shifted into his white nordai form and took to the skies.
Chapter Seventeen.
The moment To"en took flight, Renn"s hands tightened around Tierra"s waist and she squealed with laughter as he again flipped her over his shoulder. He held her with one arm while retrieving Anistana"s crystal and gold box from Liana with his free hand.
After giving the four grinning family members a quick nod, Renn strode toward the castle. Nothing would stop him now.
"Hurry," Tierra urged him, and just the need in her voice caused him to quicken his pace and his c.o.c.k to grow impossibly harder.
"Mayhap I should f.u.c.k you here on the stairs," he murmured as he carried his bride up the winding staircase toward their bedchamber.
"Mmmm." She ran her palms over his b.u.t.tocks. "You have such a fine muscled a.s.s."
Still balancing the crystal box under one arm as he walked, Renn slid his other hand beneath her gown and slipped his fingers into her wet folds.
Tierra moaned and squirmed. "I cannot wait any longer."
Renn found himself practically running the remainder of the way to their room.
When he finally arrived, he shoved the door open and slammed it shut behind him. He set the crystal and gold box on the table beside the bed, then drew Tierra from his shoulder.
Slowly he slid her down his length, feeling her body brushing against his as he said, "I feel as though I have waited all my days for you."
"Forever," she murmured.
Her bodice slipped, revealing her perfect b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Renn swooped to capture one beautiful nipple in his mouth, flicking his tongue over the hard nub. He pressed her hips against his, letting her feel the hardness, the strength of his arousal for her. He would never get enough of this woman, his wife.
Renn lifted his head to gaze upon her beautiful face. No matter his urgency to feel her from the inside, he wanted to take his time, to show his bride how much he loved her. He raised his hands to her hair and pulled out the clip, releasing all her fiery locks so that they tumbled over her shoulders and to her waist.
"Such beauty," he murmured, running his fingers through the strands.
Tierra shivered and closed her eyes, reveling in the sensations of Renn"s hands and eyes upon her. Gently he pushed the gown down around her waist and over her hips, "til it dropped to her bare feet, and she was entirely naked.
When she opened her eyes she found him studying her, as though she was a priceless gift that he had just unwrapped.
"I love you, denai." He pressed her naked body against his fully clothed form and kissed her. It felt so erotic with his hands roaming her naked flesh, feeling the rasp of his tunic against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and the rub of his c.o.c.k through his breeches and against her belly.
"And I love you, my dark warrior," she murmured.
Renn brought his mouth to hers in a loving, searing, soul burning kiss that set her aflame. He tasted of chocolatyl, wine, and Renn, a combination that made her feel even more intoxicated than she had been from the joining elixir.
His tongue thrust into her mouth as his hands closed over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, his calloused palms rubbing over her sensitized nipples.
Tierra drew him in, taking his tongue deep. Her head spun with the force of her need for her husband, the taste of him, the feel of him. Her quim ached and grew wetter yet.
She could barely breathe when they drew away. "I want to see all of you." She moved her hands to the bottom of his tunic and clenched it in her fists. "I want to feel your skin against mine."
A rumble rose up in Renn"s throat as his silver gaze flared. In a quick movement he yanked his tunic over his head and kicked off his boots.
When he started to unfasten his breeches, Tierra stopped him with her hands on his. "Let me."
The hunger to possess his woman was almost more than Renn could bear. His biceps trembled with the force it took to hold himself back, from throwing her onto the bed and f.u.c.king her mindless.
No. This was their joining eve and he wanted to show her how much he loved her.
Tierra"s small hands unfastened his breeches. She wrapped her fingers around his c.o.c.k and he groaned. "Denai."
Leaning closer, she flicked her tongue out and lapped at the head of his staff.
Renn slid his hands into her hair as she enveloped his c.o.c.k with her warm, wet mouth. He closed his eyes as she moved her mouth up and down, along with her hand.
"Stop." He halted her movements by holding her head still, opened his eyes and met her emerald gaze. "I need to be inside you, Tierra. Now."
She slipped his c.o.c.k from her mouth. "Yes," she said as she pushed his breeches over his hips.
He stepped out of them, scooped Tierra up, and carried her the short distance to his bed.
When he laid her down, she held out her arms. "Come to me, warrior man."
Renn slid between her thighs and into her embrace, knowing that he was home. Forevermore, this woman was his love and his life. And thanks to the Overseers, he should have a very long life to love his woman, indeed.
Tierra reached down and grabbed his c.o.c.k, moving it the entrance to her channel. "Love me, Renn."
He slid into her wet quim, the sensation of her core surrounding him, gripping him, almost enough to make him come at once.
"Yes, that"s it." Tierra"s hips met his thrusts, her eyes focused on his face. "G.o.ds but you feel so good inside me."
Renn brought his lips to hers, drawing her tongue into his mouth as he drove his c.o.c.k into her quim. She tensed beneath him and then her body bucked and vibrated with the force of her o.r.g.a.s.m, and her cries were trapped in his mouth.
Renn"s muscles went taut and his body corded. He came in a rush, his seed flowing into Tierra"s body with every jerk of his c.o.c.k.
He rolled onto his side, drawing her with him "til she was laying on top of him, his c.o.c.k still deep in her quim.
Tierra"s body continued to vibrate with her climax, clenching around Renn"s c.o.c.k. For a moment they stayed in that position, as though frozen in place and unable to move. Their skin was wet with sweat, and the smell of his come and the juices of her quim perfumed the air.
"Do we dare open Anistana"s gift?" she murmured against her husband"s chest. "She did save your lives."
"For that I am most grateful." Renn rubbed his thumb along Tierra"s chin. "If not for the Faerie Queen, I would not be here with you, this very moment."
"I suppose we are indebted to my sister." A shudder eased through Tierra at the thought of almost having lost Renn in the battle. "I just wonder when she will want to collect that debt."
Renn raised a dark eyebrow. "Do you think that is her intention?"
Tierra nodded, her hair rubbing across his chest as she moved. "With Anistana I believe there is a reason for her every action. Her every choice."
He chuckled, the sound rumbling in his chest beneath her ear. "For only having met your sister, you already know her well."
With a smile, she slipped his c.o.c.k from her core and moved her legs over the side of the bed. Damselflies fluttered in her belly as she slid her hands around the cool crystal and gold box. Gripping it tightly she brought it to her lap.
Renn eased up to sit beside her and for a moment they both stared at the box. It was clear, and as far as Tierra could see, there was nothing inside of it.
"I don"t suppose the crystal box itself was the gift," Tierra muttered.
"We shall open it together." Renn placed his hand on the box and his eyes met Tierra"s.
She laughed. "It"s probably nothing."
As though of one mind, they lifted the crystal lid.